Toilet tank flush valve



Jan. l5, 1963 F, R, ROACH TOILET TANK FLUSH VALVE Filed March 14, 1961 United States Patent O 3,072,919 TOILET TANK FLUSH VALVE Floyd R. Roach, 114 Division St., Coldwater, Mich. Filed lVlar. 14, 1961, Ser. No. 95,598 13 Claims. (Cl. 4--57) This invention relates generally to valves and, more particularly, to an improved flush valve having a low, inclined seat and counterweighted ball valve adapted to be installed in a discharge opening in a water tank connected with a toilet bowl.

One of the disadvantages of conventional toilet tank flush valves is that the ball valve closes with several inches of water remaining in the bottom of the flush tank. As a consequence, the flush tank must be made higher and/ or larger than would be the case if all, or nearly all, of the water were drained therefrom during the iiushing operation. Even when the ball valve is manually held from its seat to permitas much drainage as possible, over an inch of water will remain in the tank because of the height of the valve seat above the bottom of the tank. This means that rust or any sediment that accumulates at the bottom of the tank cannot be flushed out. Moreover, in any instance where the water supply valve is shut o, the undrained water remaining in the tank presents a drainage hazard in an unheated building during freezing weather, unless special precautions are taken to Siphon or mop out the captive water. Many flush tanks in summer homes have been ruined in such Weather as a result of this common defect.

It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved hush tank valve assembly that will permit the use of iiush tanks that lare smaller and of lower height than is required with conventional flush valve assemblies.

Another object is to provide a liush tank valve assembly including la novel 4body design which insures the draining of water to a level closer to the bottom of the tank then has heretofore been possible.

Still another object is to provide a flush tank valve wherein the ball seating action is controlled or delayed by a counterweighted lever to assure maxi-mum drainage of Water -from the tank before the ball is permitted to engage its seat. Y

Still another object is to provide a flush tank valve assembly which insures a minimum of turbulence during a flushing cycle.

Yet another object is to provide a ush tank valve body Ihaving an ample overflow passage, and which body may be positioned in a flush tank that has protrusions, such as bolt heads, in the immediate vicinity of the tank discharge opening, without interfering withy the bolt heads.

A further object is to provide a positive acting, properly seating flush tank valve which is both simple and economical to manufacture and assemble.

A still tur-ther object is to provide a flush tank valve which can be quickly and easily installed in a discharge opening in the bottom of a tank, iand which will insure a leakproof connection therebetween.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary plan view of the bottom of a toilet ush tank showing the flush valve of the present invention installed rtherein;

FIG. 2 is a vertical sectional view taken on line 2--2 of FIG. l, showing the flush valve installed in a drain opening in the bottom of the flush tank;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view through the throat of the body of the flush valve, taken on line 3-3 of FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a sectional view through the valve seat taken on the line 4-4 of FIG. 2.

Referring to the drawings, the numeral l1 identifies a bottom wall of a conventional flush tank which is provided with the usual drain opening 3. The flush valve assembly of the present invention is generally identified by the numeral 5 and includes a cast brass body 7 having a depending cylindrical outlet 9 that extends through the tank 4opening 3. The body 7 also includes an inclined wall y11 provided with a seat 13 of spherical formation and of substantially the same radius and configuration as the lower end of a conventional hollow, rubber ball Valve 15. 'I'he valve seat 13 is preferably inclined on an angle of .approximately =l2 'with respect to the horizontal wall 1 of the ush tank. This angle has been `found to reduce turbulence in flow through the valve seat 13 to a minimum.

The valve body 7 also includes an annular horizontal flange 17 that is concentric with the cylindrical outlet 9. The underside 19 of the flange 17 and the outer surface of the outlet 9 are machine finished to provide, in elect, at their juncture, a ring 21 that engages the inner, upper edge of `a rubber sealing ring 23 surrounding the cylindrical portion 9. The `drain opening 3 in the tank wall 1 is chramtered `at its upper end as indicated at 25, and the f ling the valve -assembly 5 in the flush tank, and with a litting 31 for connecting the valve 7 to a toilet bowl, not

shown.l A gasket 33. is disposed between the clamping nut 31 and the lower surface of the tank wall 1 to per- Vmit rotation of said clamping nut relative to said wall without damaging the same. Upon tighten-ingA of the clamping nut 31, the metal ring 21 penetrates the rubber ring 23 and cooperates with the flange 17 to compress the ring 23 to form a seal with the tank wall 1.

The body 7 also has an offset portion 34 containing a vertical v threaded opening 35 in which a conventional -overflow pipe 37 is mounted. A lower wall portion 14 is disposed in a plane parallel with the wall-.portion 11, and both are inclined on the same 4angle as the valve seat 13, namely, approximately 129. The walls 11 and 14 cooperate to provide an overflow passage 39 in the valve body 7 that is generally oval shaped in transverse crosssection, as best shown in FIG. 3. The side edges 11a and 14a of the Walls 11 and 14 diverge in la `direction away from the opening 35 toward the outlet 9, as best shown in FIG. l, so that the discharge end of the overow passage 39 becomes wider and assumes a flat oval shape, as best shown in FIG. 4.

As will be seen from FIG. l, the axis of the outlet 9 and the axis of the threaded opening 35 lie on the same vertical plane. A boss 41 is cast integral with the wall 11 and the portion of the body defining the opening 35 and extends from the opening 35 in a direction toward the valve seat 13. The boss 41 has a transverse horizontal opening `43, FIG. 3, for receiving a pin 45. The opening 43 is made -a few thousandths of an inch larger in diameter than the outside diameter of the pin 45, fora purpose which will be explained later.

An operating lever 47 Ifor the ball valve 15 h-as a rightwardly extending arm A48 with an enlarged, hat, angularly ofsetend portion49 through which a screw51 extends for securing the ball valve 15 to the lever 47. The lever 47 conforms somewhat with the contour of the ball valve 15 and includes a clevis portion 53, PIG', 3, intermediate the ends thereof comprising depending legsr55 and 57, each of which has an opening to tightly receive therein a portion of the pin 45.

Aleftwardly extending arml 59 of the lever 47 includes an olset portion 60, FIG. 1, that exends laterally or rearw-ardly from the clevis 53. kThe arm 59 extends in a direction opposite to that of the arm 48, or away -frorn the ball valve 15,1and is arranged so that it can move in a vertical plane located rearwardly of the overflow pipe 37. The lever arms 48 and 59 diverge from the clevis 53, are Ynon-parallel with the seat 13, and are disposedV on an 'angle of about` 112 to each other, as indicated in FIG. 2. A counterweight '61.is `formed by an enlargment-at the free end of the' arm 59,for counterbalancing the arm 48 and the ball valve 15, -for controlling their return movement to delay engagement of the ball valve with the seat 13,l as will be explained more fully hereinafter.

The .arm y48, FIG. 2, fof the lever 47 carries a lug `63 located beyond the screw 51, containing an .opening y64 to receive the lower end of `a chain 65 for connecting said chain to said lever. The upper end of the chain 65 is attachedgto a conventional arm 67 that ispivotally mounted upon the front wall of the flush tank and provided with an operating handle, not shown, in the customary manper. v The arm 48 carries, an integral,ttriangular stop 50 adapted to engage the overflow pipe 37 to limit counterclockwise movement ofthe lever '47, so that the countervweight 61 lis held clear of the bottom of the tank.

'I'he flush tank is attached to -a toiletbowl, notshown, by fbolts `69, whicl1, pass through the Ibottom wall i1 of the tank. It will be "noted from `EIG. 2 that the valve -body 7 is designedso that the oiset portion `34, including the wall 14'deningthe lower'pjortion of the overflow passage 39, provides clearance 'for the head of the' bolt r69, even when thebolt i'sin alignment therewith and in close proximity to the tank outlet 3. Y

`In `the present valve construction, i't is important that Vthe projected distance between the axis of the pivot pin "45 and theaxisof theva'lve seat 13 be the same asV the projected distance `between the axis of `said pivot pin 45 'and the axis ofthe ball 'valve V15. In other words, the ldistance"between a line passing through the axis of the pivot Apin 45 "and a parallel line `passing through the axis of the `valve .seat 1 3, "as represented by the dimension A, lis equal to.thejdistancefbetween the mst-mentioned line and a line parallel 'thereto and ,passing through 'the axis of the ball valve 15,' Ias represented by the dimension B. Infon'e' 'operative example of the invention, the dimensions A and Beach Vequal 1% inches. Therefore, the ball valve 15will'always1seat properly; However, in ordjer to provide `f or some'toleranc'e in manufacturingy and assembly, the opening 43 in the -boss l41 ismade a 'few thousandths of an inchlarger` than the diameter of the pivot pin 45,Y in order Ytoprovide some iloating action for `therlever vand ball assembly to' compensate for any slight `difference in the dimensions A and B that may occur in actual practice and, thus, insure `accurate seating of the ballvalve 15 on the seat y1`3.

It will 'be understood that water is supplied to the Vflush tank through the usual Iball cock', not-shown. iIt -will also be understood that, Ywhen the operating handle (not shown) on the ilush .tank is-actuated to operate the arm 67, the chain `65 will rock thelever 47 counterclockwise and the ball valve 15 will be moved vvfrom its position shown `in full lines in FIG. 2 to the position shown in dot-and-.dash lines. The lifting of the ball valve 15y from itsseat 13 will initiate 4a flushing operation and permit the water inthe tank to rapidly discharge through the `outlet9. The eounterweight 61 and lever arm 59 supplemented .by the buoyant effect of the water in the tank actingV on the ball valve 15 will, at this time, hold the valve open.

The design of the inclined seat 13 is such that the discharge llowoccurs through the valve 7 without creating undesirable turbulence. In rviewl of the fact thatthe lowest portion of the seat 13 is disposed slightly less than 1A inch above the upper surface of the bottom wall 1 of the tank, nearly all of the water in the tank will be discharged under maximum head before the ball valve 15 returns to its seat. In this connection, the counterweight 61 on the lever arm 59 functions for an interval to overcome the suction closing elect on the -ball valve 15 induced by the water rushing through the valve seat 13, thereby permitting the water in the tank to fall to a very low level before the ball valve 15 starts its movement to kultimately engage the seat 13.

The functional and operational advantages of the present llush tank valve will be better understood in light of the fact that, when the ball valve 15 is in the position shown, in dot-and-dash lines in FIG. 2, the counterweighted lever arm 59 acts to retain the ball valve in this position against the suction force created by the water rushing through the body of the valve. In one operative form of the invention, the counterweight 61 eiectively restrains closing of the ball valve 15 until the water level in the ilush tank is reduced to that indicated by the legend Level C, in FIG. 2 of the drawings. At this level, theV air in the hollow ball 15 still provides a certain amount of buoyancywhich, together with the counterweight, resists the vacuum forces tending to pull the ball downwardly toward the seat 13. The level C corresponds to a water depth of about 1% inches. As the water level continues to drop, the air will spill out of the opening in the lower part of the ball 15, producing a large bubble, after which the ball becomes less buoyant, and the combined weight fof the ball and the lever arm 48, and the suction effect of the discharging water, overcome the resistance offered vby the lever arm 59 and the counterweight 61, so that the ball 15 actually seats when the level of the water in the tank corresponds to the level indicated by the legend Level D inFIG. 2 of the drawings. This level corresponds to a depth which may vary from about l1/s inches to 1% inches, thus leaving a minimum volume of unused water in the tank. Of course, if the ball valve 15 is manually held raised from its seat during the entire ilushing operation, the water level will drop to the lowest point of the inclined seat 13. However, in normal use, the ball valve 15 is manually lifted from its seat to start a flushing 'operation andthe handle is released, allowing the valve to seat .itself automatically.

It will 'be understood' that all water is drained from the ball'valve 15 when seated, so that it becomes lled with Vair. This air becomes entrapped in the ball by the water is always present in the ball valve 15 when it is in the 'dot-and-dash position shown in FIG. 2 and is available to eiect the vrestraining or retarding, closing function described above.

Moreover, with the present flush valve, the inclined seat 13 permits the water'to rush through the seat opening with a minimum of turbulence, as beforestated', thereby assuring quiet operation and negligible interference with the closing action of the ball valve 15.

K In flush tank installations having a conventional ball llush valve, if, the valve is opened and released so that it is allowedl to automatically seat during the flushing operation, the ball valve will close when the water level in the tank is still about 2'1/2 to 3%. Iinches from the bottom of the tank, thereby preventing maximum utilization of the available water for flushing purposes. In contrast, and as has been pointed out above, the present ball valve 15 will automaticall-yclose at the level D of 11/8 to 13/8 inches, thereby making more water available for ilushing purposes for a tank of a given size than would be available with a` conventional ush valve. It is apparent, therefore, that the present flush valve is not only more efficient than conventional flush valves, but Valso makes it possible to provide the ysame volume of flushing water, with a tank `of substantially less height, for example ll/s to 1% inches 4 less, than a conventional tank. This means that a substantial saving in space and tank material can be elected with the present valve.

The present structure also has the advantage that, when the supply of water to the flush tank is cut oit, as in winterizing a summer house, the ball valve can be manually held from its seat, whereupon substantially all of the water in the tank will be drained out, leaving insufficient water in the tank to cause damage in the event that the temperature should drop below freezing.

It will be understood that various changes may be made in the proportions and in the arrangement of the components of the present flush valve, and that said components may be made of any suitable corrosion-resistant materials, without departing from the principles of the invention or the scope of the annexed claims.

I claim:

1. A toilet tank ush valve, comprising: a hollow body having an outlet in a lower portion thereof for the discharge of flushing water therethrough, an inlet for tank overflow water in an upper portion thereof, and an overflow passage establishing communication between said inlet and outlet, said body having a ball valve seat in said upper portion disposed above and vertically aligned with said outlet, said seat being inclined relative to a horizontal line disposed at right angles to the axis of said outlet; a boss on said body located between said inlet and said valve seat; a lever; means pivotally mounting said lever upon said boss, said lever having arms extending in opposite directions from said pivot means and each terminating in a free end; a ball valve mounted upon the free end of one of said arms; a counterweight mounted upon the free end of the other of said arms, said other arm including a laterally extending portion connecting the same with said one arm and arranged so that said other arm is disposed to one side of said inlet opening; and means on said one arm connectible with actuating means for lifting said valve element from its seat. Y

2. A toilet tank flush valve as delined in claim 1, in which the inclination of the valve seat is on an angle of approximately 12 to the plane of the horizontal line.

3. A toilet tank llush valve as defined in claim 1, wherein the arms of the lever extend upwardly and away from the pivotal mounting means therefor.

4. A toilet tank ilush valve as defined in claim 3, wherein the arms of the lever are disposed upon an angle of about 112 relative to each other.

5. A toilet tank flush valve as defined in claim l, in which the one arm of the lever has a free end that terminates in an angularly offset enlargement, and wherein the valve element is connected with said offset enlargement.

6. A toilet tank flush valve, comprising: a hollow body having an outlet in a lower portion thereof for the discharge of ushing water therethrough, an inlet for tank overilow water in an upper portion thereof, and an overflow passage establishing communication between said inlet and said outlet, said body having a spherical seat in said upper portion disposed above and vertically aligned with said outlet; a boss on said body located between said inlet and said valve seat; a lever; means pivotally mounting said lever upon said boss, said lever having arms extending in opposite directions from said pivot means; a hollow ball valve mounted upon the free end of one of said arms and being engageable with said spherical seat; a counterweight mounted upon the free end of the other of said arms, said other arm including a laterally extending portion arranged so that the lever arms are longitudinally oset and said other arm is disposed to one side of said inlet opening; and means on said one arm connectible with actuating means for lifting said valve element from its seat.

7. A toilet tank flush valve as defined in claim 6, in which one of the arms of the lever includes a clevis connecting the same with the pivot means, and wherein the laterally extending portion ot' the other arm of the lever projects from one side of said clevis.

8. A toilet flush tank valve as defined in claim 7, in which the clevis is connected to the boss by a pivot means including a pin and wherein the boss has an opening through which said pin extends of a diameter a few thousandths of an inch larger than the diameter of said pin, whereby the lever is floatingly mounted upon said boss.

9. A toilet flush tank valve as defined in claim 6, wherein the body has a horizontal, annular mounting ilange extending outwardly therefrom and has a depending cylindrical portion delining said outlet opening, and wherein a small annular ring-like formation is provided at the juncture of said ilange and cylindrical portion.

10. A toilet tank ush valve as ldened in claim 6, in which the hollow ball valve is formed with an opening in the bottom thereof; and wherein the total weight of the -other of the arms together with the weight of the counterweight on one side of the pivot means is slightly heavier, when the valve is in raised lposition, than the lweight of said one arm together with the weight of said ball valve While buoyed up in water covering said opening on the other side of said pivot means, whereby said ball valve, when actuated, is maintained in raised position against lthe suction action of Water ilowing downwardly through the outlet and is automatically returned to a seated position on its seat by the weight of water entering the opening in said ball valve to replace air escaping therefrom upon a lowering of the level of the water in said tank to below said opening in said ball valve.

11. A toilet tank flush valve assembly, comprising: a hollow body having a depending cylindrical portion containing an outlet for the discharge of flushing water therethrough, said body having a threaded overflow inlet; an overflow pipe mounted in said threaded inlet, said body also having an overflow passage establishing communication lbetween said overflow inlet and said outlet, said body further having a ball valve `seat portion above and vertically aligned with said outlet, said body still further having a horizontal, annular mounting flange extending outwardly therefrom immediately adjacent said seat, said seat being inclined on a small angle relative to said horizontal mounting ange and having the low side of said inclined seat disposed only a slight distance above said mounting ange; a boss on said body located between said inlet and said valve seat; a lever; means pivotally mounting said lever upon said boss, said lever having arms extending in opposite directions from said pivot means; a ball valve element mounted upon the end of one of said arms and being engageable with said seat; a counterweight mounted upon the end of the other of said arms, said other arm including a laterally extending portion arranged so that the lever arms are longitudinally offset and said other arm is disposed to one side of said overflow pipe; and means on said one arm connectible with actuating means for lifting said valve element from its seat.

12. A toilet tank flush valve assembly, comprising: a hollow body having an outlet opening for the discharge of flushing water therethrough, an overilow inlet, and an overflow passage establishing communication between said overflow inlet and said outlet, said body further having a seat portion above and vertically aligned with said outlet, said seat being inclined on a small angle relative to a horizontal line disposed at right angles to the axis of said outlet opening; a boss on said body located between said inlet and said valve seat; a lever; means including a pin pivotally mounting said lever upon said boss, said lever having arms extending in opposite directions from said pivot means and in non-parallel relation with the plane of said seat; a -ball valve mounted upon the end of one of said arms and being engageable with said seat; and a counterweight mounted upon the end of the other of said arms, the distance between a line passing through the axis of said pin to a line parallel therewith and passing 7 through the axis of' said seat being equal tojthe `distance between said rst-rnentioned line and a line parallel therewith and passing through the axis of said ball valve. y

13. A toilet tank flush valve, comprising: a hollow body having a .depending'cylindrical portion formed 'with an outlet passagesaid body having a spherically shaped, ball valve seat above said outlet inclined .on an angle of about 12 from the horizontal; anfannular flange 'formed on said body extending horizontally outwardly therefrom immediately below the lowerrnost portion of said inclined seat; a ring formed on said body at the juncture of said ange with said body adapted to penetrate and compress a seal disposed between said ange and the discharge opening in a flush tank; ,an overow passage formed in said body extending atan angle of substantially 12 from a point adjacent the Vhighest portion Yof said inclined seat and terminating ina vertical passage adapted to .receive the lower end of a flush tank overowgipe; a

boss having a horizontal opening therethrough formed on Aattached to a manually actuated valve operator; a clevis portion formed intermediate the ends of said lever having aligned, horizontal openings through the legs thereof, the openings in the legs of said clevis being smaller than the Opening in said boss; a ball valve attached to said other arm, the protected distance from the center of said opening in said clevis to the center of said ball valve being the same as the projected distance from the center of said opening in said clevis to the center of said valve seat; and a pin of substantially the same diameter as the openings in said clevis extending through the openings in said clevis and through the opening in said boss, mounting said lever for oating pivotal movement in a vertical plane.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 381,911 Crawford May 1, 1888 419,566 Scott Jan. 19, 1890 2,713,173 Runcie July 19, 1955 2,726,403 De Gree Dec. 13, 1955 2,818,576 Smith Jan. 7, 1958 2,830,302 Nelson et al Apr. 15, 1958 

1. A TOILET TANK FLUSH VALVE, COMPRISING: A HOLLOW BODY HAVING AN OUTLET IN A LOWER PORTION THEREOF FOR THE DISCHARGE OF FLUSHING WATER THERETHROUGH, AN INLET FOR TANK OVERFLOW WATER IN AN UPPER PORTION THEREOF, AND AN OVER FLOW PASSAGE ESTABLISHING COMMUNICATION BETWEEN SAID INLET AND OUTLET, SAID BODY HAVING A BALL VALVE SEAT IN SAID UPPER PORTION DISPOSED ABOVE AND VERTICALLY ALIGNED WITH SAID OUTLET, SAID SEAT BEING INCLINED RELATIVE TO A HORIZONTAL LINE DISPOSED AT RIGHT ANGLES TO THE AXIS OF SAID OUTLET; A BOSS ON SAID BODY LOCATED BETWEEN SAID INLET AND SAID VALVE SEAT; A LEVER; MEANS PIVOTALLY MOUNTING SAID LEVER UPON SAID BOSS, SAID LEVER HAVING ARMS EXTENDING IN OPPOSITE DIRECTIONS FROM SAID PIVOT MEANS AND EACH TERMINATING IN A FREE END; A BALL VALVE MOUNTED UPON THE FREE END OF ONE OF SAID ARMS; A COUNTERWEIGHT MOUNTED UPON THE FREE END OF THE OTHER OF SAID ARMS, SAID OTHER ARM INCLUDING A LATERALLY EXTENDING PORTION CONNECTING THE SAME WITH SAID ONE ARM AND ARRANGED SO THAT SAID OTHER ARM IS DISPOSED TO ONE SIDE OF SAID INLET OPENING; AND MEANS ON SAID ONE ARM CONNECTIBLE WITH ACTUATING MEANS FOR LIFTING SAID VALVE ELEMENT FROM ITS SEAT. 